A1969: thanks to those who actually bothered to review…the only source of inspiration, I'm afraid.
Sango: what about—
A1969: shh…you promised not to tell!
Miroku: tell what?
A1969: nonya
Miroku: ??
A1969: nonya business. I own nothing except the things you don't recognize such as the plot and the OC's.
Chapter Eleven: Understanding
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Clara yawned widely as she closed the book that she had been reading for more than an hour. She had been reading her history book. She was way behind in classes now and she didn't want to give her mother a good excuse to bicker with her. Besides, she thought wearily as she shoved the book to a corner of her study table, if she sees how good my marks are, then she won't have a good enough reason to send me back home.
She glanced up at the clock and saw the time—eight in the evening. Several times the housekeeper had called her to dinner and several times did she deny herself the pleasure of eating. She yawned again, wondering if her hunger strike would be enough to convince her mother that she was telling the truth. Probably not, she decided.
Was it actually that hard to believe? Was it so hard to comprehend that she had been in the Feudal Era for the past few weeks? Yes, to the sane and practical, it was. Unfortunately for her, mother just happened to be sane and practical.
A soft knock on the door. "Clara?" it was Viola, one of the maids. "Your dinner is getting cold."
"Then let it," she said stubbornly. "I'm in no mood to eat." A loud grumble came from her protesting stomach. She heard a scuffle of feet and knew that Viola had left.
Clara sighed and laid her head on her arms. She closed her eyes, determined to sleep and hoping, at the same time, that her brain would come up with an idea of how to get her mother to believe her story.
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Kagome stared hesitantly around a corner. They were in a classier part of Tokyo and she figured that Clara might live around here somewhere. She glanced behind her, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were glaring at each other silently.
"Well, miko?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"It would help if one of you could sniff her out," Kagome said flatly.
Sesshoumaru regarded the miko for a moment then sniffed the air. Clara's scent was faint but he could follow it. Without saying a word to them, he walked ahead of them and started down a deserted alleyway. He didn't want to go by the road where the humans would gawk and point at him.
"Guess he can sniff her out," Kagome said, watching the demon lord's retreating back.
Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in disgust. "He just likes looking and acting as if he knows everything," the hanyou said with distaste.
Kagome sighed. "Come on, let's follow him," she said.
"I don't think I will," the hanyou said.
"Inuyasha, I know you don't like him," Kagome said. "But…what have you got to loose if you follow him?"
"My sanity for one thing…I'm dignity for another," the hanyou said. "Then there's the possibility that we might loose our lives."
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A quarter of an hour later, Kagome, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru found themselves standing outside a house surrounded by large walls. Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru. "Are you sure?" she asked with some hesitation in her voice.
He gave a curt nod and much to Kagome's chagrin, he easily jumped over the wall. "Did he just?" Kagome asked, looking at Inuyasha.
"Now you see why I hate him," Inuyasha said with, folding his arms and shrugging at her.
It was easy for Sesshoumaru to leap over the wall. He found himself in a garden where the scent of the flowers overpowered his senses. He had to admit, the garden was beautiful. It reminded him of his mother's garden where she used to play with him when he was still a child…
He snapped himself out of his thoughts and focused on his goal. Finding Riyara and finishing her off, thus obliterating the last of the Hyouga family. Of course, if it hadn't been for the smoke that came from that truck her scent might have still been intact and he would have killed her by now. And he wouldn't have to bother with Midoriko's reincarnation.
He looked up at the house. Humans did live differently in this era, that was clear. They seemed much better off than in the past. He shifted his gaze to the room that had a balcony. She was there. Without much effort, he jumped onto the balcony and slid aside the glass door.
The girl had fallen asleep at what he assumed was her desk. Her head rested peacefully on her arms. He edged closer, silent as night. A book lay open at the corner of her desk. He glanced at it and found that it was about the history of the world—something which greatly interested him. He tore his gaze away from the book and looked at the girl. Strands of silky brown hair spilled over her arms and on to her desk. Through the gap in her arms, he could make out a tiny glimmer which indicated the presence of half of the Shikon Jewel which she wore around her neck.
He frowned. If she still had the jewel then that meant that they had beaten Riyara to Midoriko's reincarnation. His frown deepened. He hated the name 'Midoriko' and preferred to call the girl by her own name…what was it again? Oh, right, Clara. A strange name, he thought with relish.
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Clara felt a draft…which meant that the door to her balcony was open. Open? Why on earth was it open? She could have sworn that, before she fell asleep, it was closed. A cold possibility ran through her. What if an unwanted visitor had entered? She sensed someone towering over her. She slowly opened her eyes.
Her eyes widened in shock as soon as she saw who was looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Wh-what are you doing here?!" she half-shouted, automatically pushing her chair backward.
Sesshoumaru gave her a look. Clara stood up and—much to Sesshoumaru's amusement—began shaking her head rapidly back and forth. "Get a grip, Clara," she muttered to herself. "I'm under too much stress today…clearly that is just some sort of apparition." She looked up and to her dismay, he was still there. "I'm delusional," she said to herself.
Sesshoumaru was about to open his mouth to reply when, at that moment, Inuyasha jumped onto Clara's balcony, Kagome riding on his back. "Kagome? Inuyasha?" Clara asked as the pair made their way in. She sighed with relief. "I thought I was going crazy!"
"But…anyway," Clara went on. "What are you doing here? What is he doing here?" She tilted her head at Sesshoumaru who pretended not to notice her impudence.
"Well," Kagome said. "It's because—"
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. "Clara?" Viola was back. "Are you alright? I heard you scream."
The door slowly creaked open. Clara rushed to the door and pushed it close. "Clara?" Viola asked, now concerned. She tried to open the door but Clara kept a firm hand on it. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Clara said, opening the door to a crack.
"You were screaming," Viola insisted.
"I was…watching television!" Clara said.
"You don't have a television in there, you're mom took it away."
"Youtube!" Clara said, thinking quickly. "I was watching something on Youtube…with the speakers on!"
"Oh…okay." Clara pressed her ears to the door just as she heard Viola shuffling away. She sighed and turned her attention to Kagome and the others. Inuyasha was giving her a weird look, Kagome looked amused and Sesshoumaru…didn't show any emotion on his face.
"So," Clara said. "What brings you guys here?"
"A demoness," Sesshoumaru said quietly, his amber eyes boring into Clara's icy ones, "by the name of Riyara. I was pursuing her when she escaped through the well."
"But what does that have anything to do with me?" Clara asked, returning his stare.
"She was looking for you…to steal the Jewel." His eyes left hers and he looked at the jewel. "She needs it in order to revive her brother and father."
Clara looked at Kagome and Inuyasha who both shrugged. She fixed her gaze on the balcony outside and her eyes widened in realization. "Of course," she murmured. She looked at them. "This afternoon…I sensed a demonic aura nearby…could it be her?"
"That's possible," Kagome said. "You still have the jewel so that means—"
"She's afraid of you," Sesshoumaru said quietly. "She does not realize that you are…weak."
"What?!" Clara snapped, glaring at him. "Are you saying I'm weak?"
"I already did."
Clara glared at him. "Um," Kagome said cautiously. "So…she might be hiding somewhere in the city." She frowned. What if Riyara was killing humans even now? "We have to find her and fast," Kagome went on. "The more we waste time talking, the more harm she could do."
Clara nodded. "I think it would be best if we split up…Kagome and I could search in the upper part of town and—"
"Hold it right there," Inuyasha said, giving her a look. "I am not gonna look for this cur's girlfriend with him!"
"Okay," Clara said, giving Inuyasha a look. "Kagome and Sesshoumaru can—"
"No way!" Inuyasha snapped, grabbing Kagome's shoulders and drawing her to him. "I'm not letting Kagome go with that cur! Kagome's coming with me and you can go with him!" Kagome looked at Inuyasha, feeling a slight blush dawn on her cheeks like the sun dawning on the plane. "Come on, Kagome," the hanyou said. Kagome looked at Clara, shrugged innocently at her then leaped on Inuyasha's back. Quick as a flash, both of them were gone.
Clara turned her eyes to Sesshoumaru and bit her lower lip. He stared at her for a moment then made his way towards the balcony. She sighed then made her way towards the door. You're gonna pay for this, Inuyasha, she thought with grim humor.
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Alexis watched out the window as the AdvanTech parking lot came into view. She sighed. She remembered her fight with Clara and grimaced. She couldn't believe her daughter's reasons for missing for weeks. She didn't believe…but since when did she ever believe her daughter? Another sigh escaped her. Since the death of her husband, her relationship with her daughter seemed to have gone downhill. Gone were the times she and her daughter would chatter about their day—she about snooty old business men and Clara about stuck-up popular kids; gone were the times that they shared secrets.
Alexis sighed. She missed those times. But since her husband's death, the running of the company fell heavily on her shoulders and soon she found that she could spend no more time with Clara, which, though she wouldn't admit it, she regretted.
The car gradually stopped as the driver parked it. Alexis thanked him and got out. She looked up at the dark sky. Another restless night was headed her way. She made her way towards the fortress-like building. She looked up at it. It was half-finished and it was the reason why she and her daughter had moved to Japan in the first place. Secretly, she had hoped that moving would somehow fix their broken bond. To her disappointment, it had not.
She stopped in her tracks. She looked at the trees that surrounded the parking lot and thought she heard a slight rustling noise. She dismissed it and continued walking on. A figure suddenly stopped out of the shadows. It was a woman. She was strangely dressed—she wore a kimono. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and her silver-flecked green eyes sparkled in the moonlight.
Alexis's eyes strayed to the dagger on the girl's forearm. "Who are you?" she asked, looking around to see if she could out for help.
The woman tilted her head at her, her eyes roaming from head to foot, as if assessing her. "You're her, then," she said. "Midoriko's mother."
Before Alexis could even blink, the woman rushed at her and everything went black.
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"I don't sense any demonic aura," Clara muttered more to herself than to Sesshoumaru. They were walking along the road, keeping close to the shadows since Sesshoumaru despised humans gawking at him as if he were something from the zoo.
She turned to Sesshoumaru. "The only demonic aura I sense is yours…and Inuyasha's," she said slowly. They had been searching for Riyara for two hours now and during those hours, her companion had been silent as the grave.
"She has sealed her scent and aura, then," he said, not looking at her. "Besides, I do not expect that you could…"
She glared at him. "I am not weak," she said silently. "Just because I am Midorko's reincarnation does not mean that you have to compare my strength to hers!" There was an edge to her voice and Sesshoumaru, upon remembering Inuyasha's beads of subjugation, thought it best not to dignify her with a reply.
Sesshoumaru suddenly stopped in her tracks. "What?" Clara asked with annoyance upon seeing his stop. He was looking at something across the street, at the park. She followed his gaze and amid the faint light that the streetlights gave off, she could see a flurry of movement in the park.
"Insects," Sesshoumaru muttered as he darted across the street. Clara sighed and hurried after him glad that, at this time of night, the streets were nearly deserted.
When she finally reached him, he was standing at the gate that led to the park. He walked in and she followed him. "What is it?" she asked.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "Look."
Clara looked at the darkness. The light seemed to have grown faint but she could still make out a tiny flutter of wings…
"Are those…moths?" Clara asked. Once her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see them. There must have been hundreds, no thousands of moths, their tiny wings fluttering and giving off a faint, shimmering dust.
"Do not breathe it," Sesshoumaru said quietly as he covered his nose with the sleeve of his haori. Clara immediately covered her nose with both her hands.
Sesshoumaru's hands glowed a sickly green and he slashed at the moths with his claws. It had no effect. The moths looked more numerous than ever. "Pests," he said quietly as he drew out Bakusaiga. Before he could launch an attack, a group of moths clustered together and from that cluster of moths, the image of a woman appeared. She laughed.
"Riyara," Sesshoumaru said quietly.
"Sesshoumaru-sama," she said, with amusement. Her gaze flickered to Clara. "And Midoriko's reincarnation! Working together? I never would have thought that you would work with the likes of them, Sesshoumaru-sama."
Clara looked at the image of the woman. Though it was night, she could clearly see the features of the woman. She was strikingly beautiful, Clara had to admit and she remembered what Inuyasha said about the woman being Sesshoumaru's girlfriend…
"Why don't you come out of hiding, Riyara?" Sesshoumaru taunted.
The image of Riyara wrinkled its nose. "I don't think so," she said. "You see, Midoriko has something that I want…that I need…and she will give it to me." Her gaze strayed to the Shikon Jewel at Clara's neck.
Clara glared at her and removed her hands from her nose and mouth. "Over my dead body will I give you the jewel!" she snapped.
Riyara looked amused. "Over your dead body? Or…" The image shifted to reveal a woman, half-covered in a cocoon. Moths surrounded her and she was unconscious, her eyes closed shut and her skin pale. Clara's eyes widened.
"…over your dead mother's body?" Riyara finished, satisfied at the look in Clara's eyes.
"My…how did you…?" she stammered.
Riyara laughed. "If you want her alive, give me the jewel," she said with a triumphant smirk.
"Come and get it!" Clara snarled.
Riyara tsk-tsked. "I don't think so…you will come to me, Midoriko…alone," she said, eyeing Sesshoumaru. An image suddenly entered Clara's mind. It was an image of a building standing tall and proud yet unfinished. She could see the cranes and platforms at the top which indicated signs of construction. Come on your own…do not bring Sesshoumaru with you…I will know if you do and if you disobey…think of your mother… the words seemed brushed against Clara's mind.
Riyara laughed once more. The wind howled around them and the moths vanished as if taken by the wind. When the wind died down, Clara turned on her heel. Her mother was in danger and despite the fact that she harbored resentment towards her mother, she saw it fit to save her. Before she could leave the park, she became aware that Sesshoumaru was following her.
"Don't follow me!" she said, turning to face him.
"Riyara is my prey," he said quietly, his face half hidden in shadow.
"She has my mother and threatened to kill her if you come!" Clara said.
"And?" His tone was cold and pitiless.
She inwardly groaned. She knew perfectly well that Sesshoumaru would still follow her; he knew that she knew where Riyara was and he could care less about what happened to the girl's mother as long as he had what he wanted—Riyara's head.
She couldn't stop him from following her but she could delay him long enough for her to rush to where Riyara was and hand over the jewel. She closed her eyes and drew on her spiritual power and, in the blink of an eye, Sesshoumaru found himself trapped within a holy barrier.
"Onna!" he snarled as soon as he realized what she had done.
She gave him a small smile. "Kikyou taught me well," she said quietly. She turned on her heel and ran off.
Sesshoumaru glared at her retreating back and assessed the predicament he was in. He touched the barrier with a finger and withdrew it the moment he felt the sting of her holy barrier. It was a powerful one, no doubt about that. But it wasn't powerful enough to keep him trapped forever…
He drew out Bakusaiga and focused on the barrier. "Dragon Strike!" Blue energy spiraled dangerously within the barrier; it spiraled around him and against the walls of the barrier, yearning to break out. Sesshoumaru strengthened the Dragon Strike with his demonic energy. Blue light blurred his vision as his own attack encircled him dangerously. He frowned. The barrier still refused to waver. To an outsider, it would look like a giant, pinkish white bubble with blue light dancing within. The youkai lord's frown turned into a scowl. He strengthened his Dragon Strike with a tremendous amount of his youki. There was a pulse of energy and an ear-splitting boom as the barrier finally gave way to his demonic aura and was dissipated.
When the energy had died down, he looked at the damage around him. The trees in the park had been reduced to nothing but burnt splinters and slabs of cement had been upturned, revealing the earth underneath. He smirked. He had managed to dispel the barriers of one of the most powerful priestesses. But then, he reminded himself, Clara was not fully trained yet. Still, he had managed to get rid of her barrier, which meant that he had increased his resistance to holy barriers even further.
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"Did you hear that, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. She looked at him.
"Yeah…come on, Kagome," he said quickly, grabbing her hand. "That was no ordinary explosion…that was Sesshoumaru's Dragon Strike."
The miko's eyes widened. "You mean…he used it here in my time?!" she sounded incredulous. She groaned. "After all I've done to make sure the Feudal Era remained a secret…" her voice trailed off and her eyes widened. "Inuyasha, hurry!" she said with urgency. "Clara is with Sesshoumaru, remember? If she didn't stop him doing his Dragon Strike, then something must have happened."
"Crap, you're right," Inuyasha muttered as he stopped. "Get on my back, Kagome; it'll be faster that way!"
Kagome nodded then hopped on. She held on tight as Inuyasha jumped from building to building, following his brother's scent. Inuyasha followed the scent to the park. When he set Kagome down, their eyes widened at the destruction that Sesshoumaru had caused. Kagome groaned. "Oh no," she said. "This is bad…"
"Come on," said Inuyasha, taking her hand again. "He's still here."
Together, they wove their way through upturned slabs of cement, burnt trees and destroyed benches. The air was thick with both smoke and youki. Kagome shuddered as she realized the damage that Sesshoumaru and any other demon could do in the present era, where humans were much more vulnerable since few knew about them and few had spiritual energy to combat demons. She was thankful then, that there little or no demons in the present.
She frowned as they continued on. What if there were still demons lingering the present? Her frown deepened. What if minor demons were long gone and the only ones remaining were great demons like Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru? Could they be hiding among humans?
She put aside the questions as they found Sesshoumaru. He was regarding the devastation around him with—much to Kagome's annoyance—amusement.
"Sesshoumaru!" she said. "What did you do?!" She didn't bother to hide the anger in her voice.
Sesshoumaru looked up to see his brother and the miko headed towards him. Kagome looked enraged while Inuyasha's expression remained neutral. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"And where's Clara?!" Kagome asked, looking around, fearing that she would find her friend beneath a pile of rubble.
"She is gone," Sesshoumaru said. "I did not kill her," he added, seeing the look on Kagome's face.
A flicker of relief crossed Kagome's face. "But where is she? And why did you—" she gestured to the debris and destruction surrounding them.
"It was necessary," he said quietly as he began walking away.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Kagome called out. "And where is Clara?!"
"I am going to follow her scent, miko," Sesshoumaru said coldly, not bothering to look at them.
Kagome blinked. "You mean she left you?" she called out, too late, Sesshoumaru had run off. Kagome muttered something and turned to Inuyasha.
"Yeah, yeah," the hanyou said. "Follow him, I know."
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It wasn't easy to gain access into an unfinished building especially if that building happened to belong to one of the most prominent companies in the country, Clara, however, managed. It was easy slipping past the guards all of whom were asleep. It was even easier to find her way to the top floor, which was unfinished and where cranes and platforms and other construction equipment loomed, casting long shadows in Clara's way.
"So you're here," a voice said. Clara stopped in the shadow of a crane. A woman was standing in front of her. "And you've come on your own…and here I thought priestesses were rebellious and stubborn when it came to demons."
"You are Riyara?" Clara asked, taking a step forward.
The woman smiled. "And you are Midoriko's reincarnation…where is the jewel?" she asked.
Clara tugged at the necklace from her neck. She held the glittering jewel in her hands, her eyes remaining on Riyara, whose smile widened. Clara suddenly felt cold hands of fear grip her. It was then, as she looked at Riyara, that she realized that she was virtually defenseless. She had no weapons with which to defend herself and she was, much to any other demon's delight, clearly inexperienced.
"Where is my mother?" Clara demanded.
Riyara's mocking smile widened and she tilted her head. Clara's eyes rested on a cocoon that hung precariously from a crane above them and her eyes widened in shock. "I'm not giving you the jewel unless you bring her down!" she demanded.
Riyara shrugged at her and with a careless flick of her hand, a crowd of moths fluttered to the cocoon. Slowly, they brought it down so that it rested between Clara and Riyara. The demoness held out her clawed hand. "The jewel, if you please," she said.
Clara bit her lip. She knew it would be foolish to give up the Shikon Jewel to the demoness, she knew that she had to buy for more time to figure out a plan. "I want to see my mother…alive," she said in a threatening voice. She may have been inexperienced, but Riyara didn't need to know that.
The demoness looked annoyed. "Demanding, aren't you, Midoriko?" she asked. She flicked her wrist once more and, as if someone was using a blade to cut it open, the cocoon split to reveal her mother, bathed in sticky goo.
"What did you do to her?" Clara asked.
"Nothing," Riyara said, extending her hand out again. "I have kept my side out of the deal—your mother is alive and in no way harmed…now, Midoriko, give me the jewel."
Clara bit her lip. She couldn't avoid it anymore. She slowly walked towards Riyara, the Shikon Jewel glittering innocently in her palm.
"Stop!" a loud voice shouted out. Clara spun around just as Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru leaped down from one of the many high cranes.
"Inuyasha…Kagome…" Clara said softly, glad for their timely arrival. Her gaze strayed to Sesshoumaru. He had, predictably, broken out of her barrier.
"So you're here, aren't you?" Riyara asked, her gaze resting on Sesshoumaru. She looked at Inuyasha. "And this is your half-breed brother?" She sounded as arrogant as her brother, Menoumaru. Her gaze flitted from Kagome to Inuyasha, from Sesshoumaru to Clara. "Your family is fond of humans, Sesshoumaru-sama," she said mockingly. "Your blood has been watered down by the likes of them…You and your brother, however, seem to be quite fond of priestesses."
Clara's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she felt a slow blush creeping along her cheeks like vines. "Enough of the small talk," Inuyasha said, drawing out Tessaiga. He lashed at Riyara, pushing Clara aside as he did so. Riyara dodged Inuyasha's blade by jumping up into one of the platforms. Soon enough, Sesshoumaru joined the fray. With one jump, he was at Riyara's side, parrying attacks from her dagger.
Kagome rushed to Clara. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Clara nodded. "I'm fine," she said. She stood up and immediately rushed to her mother's side. She placed a finger on her mother's neck and felt relieved to find a pulse there.
"So she took your mother?" Kagome asked to which Clara nodded. She stood up and turned her attention to the three demons battling high above them.
"Kagome, we have to help them," she said finally.
Kagome nodded and quickly notched an arrow to her bow. She enchanted it with her spiritual energy and sent it flying towards Riyara who noticed the arrow and jumped into the air to avoid it. "Pesky priestesses!" she snarled as she jumped down to land in front of Kagome and Clara.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted as he quickly rushed to Kagome's aid. He engaged Riyara in combat only to be elbowed out of the way by Sesshoumaru.
"Back off, little brother, she is mine," Sesshoumaru said as Inuyasha flew backwards.
"Now's not the time to defend your girlfriend!" Inuyasha snarled as he rounded on his brother.
Clara looked at them both. "Are they for real?" she asked as she watched, with slight humor, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru throwing verbal insults at one another.
"You can't count on them!" Kagome notched another arrow to her bow and released it. It sped towards Riyara who waved it aside with a mere swing of her dagger. Riyara dashed towards Kagome who screamed in shock.
Upon hearing Kagome's screams, Inuyasha abandoned his battle with Sesshoumaru and charged towards Riyara. Riyara hooked an arm around Kagome's waist and jumped onto the platform. "Let me go!" Kagome snarled.
"Oh, keep quiet," Riyara snapped as she pressed her dagger against Kagome's throat.
Inuyasha didn't move, fearing that Riyara would kill Kagome. "The jewel," Riyara said. "Or the miko dies."
Inuyasha glanced at Clara who held the jewel in her hands. She tossed it towards him. Inuyasha caught it and at the same time, Clara made a grab for Kagome's fallen bow and arrows. She quickly notched an arrow to the bow and pointed it at Riyara. "Are you crazy?!" Inuyasha snarled. "You'll hit Kagome!"
Riyara looked amused. "Put it down, Midoriko," Riyara said, pressing the dagger tighter against Kagome's throat. "In any case, you can't hit."
Clara narrowed her eyes and looked at Kagome. The miko nodded at her and Clara understood what Kagome was about to do. In the blink of an eye, Kagome grabbed Riyara's wrist and sent a blast of holy energy at Riyara. The demoness screamed as she let Kagome go. Kagome screamed as she fell but Inuyasha quickly caught her.
While Riyara writhed in pain, Clara pointed the arrow at her and enchanted it with her own holy energy. I know I'm no good at bows, Clara thought. But just this once, hit!
She released the string and the arrow lit up with a pinkish white light. Riyara watched with wide eyes as the arrow sped towards her, unerring and deadly. Before the arrow could hit her, however, Riyara enveloped herself in an orb of blue youki and vanished. Clara's arrow ended up hitting a beam of steel which groaned dangerously.
"She got away," Sesshoumaru muttered. He scowled. Riyara would most likely return to the Feudal Era. Without giving anyone else a backward glance, he enveloped himself in an orb of his own youki and sped off to return to the Feudal Era.
"He's in a hurry," Clara said, watching him go.
"Keh," was all Inuyasha could say. "Bastard," he muttered. "Geez, I hate him." He looked at Clara. "Here," he said, tossing the jewel to her. "And make sure you don't give it away next time."
Clara let out a sigh as she watched Inuyasha making sure that Kagome was in no way harmed. "Clara," a soft feminine voice said behind her.
Clara spun around. Her mother was looking at her; she was awake and appeared to be fine. "Mother!" Clara said, rushing to her mother's side. She knelt beside her mother. "Are you alright?"
Alexis nodded and placed a hand to her head. "Yes," she murmured. "I'm fine…Clara…I'm sorry I didn't believe you."
The young woman looked at her. "You mean you…?"
"Yes," her mother said quietly. "I have been awake for some time…and I'm sorry I didn't believe you about the Feudal Era. I should have trusted you." She drew her daughter to her and hugged her. Clara smiled and returned her mother's embrace.
Alexis pulled away from her child. She turned to Kagome. "I apologize to you as well," she said.
Kagome shrugged. "You don't really have to…but I'd appreciate if you don't tell anyone about anything," she said.
Alexis nodded and looked at Clara. "You may return to the Sengoku Jidai, if you wish," she said.
Clara smiled at her and embraced her mother again. "Thanks mom," she said.
"Bah, break it up," Inuyasha said gruffly.
Kagome glared at him. "Sit boy," she said. Inuyasha crashed to the ground, his curses muffled as he raised dust.
"So, Clara," Kagome said. "We'd better get back. Kikyou will be waiting."
Clara nodded. "Yeah, we should get back. It's not good to keep her waiting."
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A1969: done at last. Once again, thanks to those who reviewed!
Sango: yeah. Make sure you review again!
Miroku: it's easy. Just scroll down and click the "GO" button.
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